A Twist From Africa

(Pretty Salma, Adaption of Red Riding Hood)

People have been adapting fairy tales for along time!  I have seen adaptions of Cinderella from Asia to Europe. Everywhere in the world young girls should be able to imagine themselves in a Fairy Tale. I chose to do fairy tales because a lot of people don't know that these books are out there and why they were written.  I decided to do some research on adaptations from places in Africa! Some of these stories have been pass down from generation to generation. I would love to learn about more fairy tales like these from  Africa.  Please checkout some of my favorites!

   

The Importance of Seeing Myself

Photo Credit: Key Williams 

"When our identity comes from the self, then we keep our energy to ourselves.  We feel energetic, we feel powerful, and we experience youthful vigor"~Deepak Chopra

As the summer comes to an end, I took a little break from my blog life.   My mind, my spirit, and my sanity were in need of rest.  I had a whole blog typed up and ready to publish, but I erased it because so much chaos was happening in the same week. I could not bring myself to write, until now.  When I started this blog, I truly did not have an aim or a goal. I just wanted to educate others in some type of way. Then, I realized that diversity in the school systems, in homes, and in a lot of areas in the world were lacking. I wanted to help with that so I created Miss T's Book Room.

Growing up I had books, I was surrounded by them daily.  The Baby-Sitters Club, The Golden Books, Dr. Seuss, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle......just to name a few.  However, only a couple of books unintentionally taught me about self-identity.  I did not realize the impact these books had on my young life until I was older.  Her Stories was the name of one and it was written by Virginia Hamilton.  I read this book everyday and everyday I felt like I was reading it for the first time.  It was a book given to me by my Grandmother.  I would look at the colorful illustrations and the expressive words.  My attention would be so into those characters that I would construct a new story about them.

While it may seem strange to others, Her Stories helped me to gain self-identity, I saw myself as a black woman.  While reading this book, I discovered that I was beautiful, I can make mistakes, words could hurt me, and that I could be knowledgeable as well as wise.  The other book was something I read when I was older, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.  I read that story multiple times too, until the book was torn (as you can see I like to read things multiple times).  Even though Maya lived in a different time, she wrote with so much feeling and imagery.  Dr.  Seuss nor The Golden Books could help me manifest this revelation.  I never realized that a child reading these books and engaging in certain illustrations could produced self love.

Creating a healthy sense of self image/self love starts now. Children of color are faced with so many negative comparisons of themselves, let us change that perception.  We need to discuss the importance of children knowing who they are, what they are, and who they're becoming.  It takes discussion, not just in the classroom, but in the home.  Let us teach all children that greatness comes from within and loving yourself is the most important thing.  I guess you didn't know you could learn so much from a book. ; )